By the new century, further attempts were made at the state level to limit the spread of opiate addiction in European countries, especially England, where it was recognized as a social evil.
In 1893 the government of William Gladstone, who himself was said not to make important speeches in public without first taking a dose, convened a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the use of opium.
Two years later it presented a report which, as journalists noted wryly, concluded that «the production of opium in India cannot be banned, even if it were desirable» - but it is undesirable. But the winds of public sentiment in Europe had already changed.
This was also realized on the other side of the world, in China. In 1905, the Qing Empire, which was living its last days, adopted a ten-year program of phased opium prohibition, which was completed after the fall of the monarchy in 1911.
In 1893 the government of William Gladstone, who himself was said not to make important speeches in public without first taking a dose, convened a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the use of opium.
Two years later it presented a report which, as journalists noted wryly, concluded that «the production of opium in India cannot be banned, even if it were desirable» - but it is undesirable. But the winds of public sentiment in Europe had already changed.
This was also realized on the other side of the world, in China. In 1905, the Qing Empire, which was living its last days, adopted a ten-year program of phased opium prohibition, which was completed after the fall of the monarchy in 1911.
In 1907 the Viceroy of India, Lord Minto, made a landmark statement: «I acknowledge that the full brunt of the consequences when opium is outlawed will fall on those who use it in moderation ... but the entire civilized world is surely disgusted with the corrupting effects of its excessive use».
Meanwhile, the world was beginning to take a coordinated stand against opiates. The ideologue of the opiate prohibition movement was Charles Henry Brent, head of the Episcopal Church of the Philippines, then under American administration.
On his initiative and with the support of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, an international commission met in Shanghai in 1909 to resolve the opium problem. It was attended by 13 states - Great Britain, the United States, China, France, Russia, Persia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Siam and Japan.
The work of the commission led to the convening of a representative conference in The Hague three years later, at which the International Opium Convention was drafted and signed. This document obliged the signatories to control the circulation of drugs - morphine, cocaine and their derivatives.
The Convention was the first supranational agreement aimed at combating drug addiction. As early as the following year, 1913, Bayer stopped the free sale of heroin. A new era in the history of drugs was beginning.
Roosevelt's «Big Anti-Drug Stick»
At the beginning of the last century, the United States became the leader of the global anti-drug movement. By this time, the country had become the largest market for opium and its derivatives outside Asia. On the one hand, the Chinese coolies, who actively migrated to the United States in the mid-19th century, contributed. On the other hand, the domestic sobriety movement, which reached a large scale by the end of the century, contributed.
By 1893, six states had already banned the production and sale of alcohol, prompting Americans to seek an inexpensive substitute for alcohol. As earlier in England, this led to a rapid rise in the popularity of opiates, especially opium smoking.
Smokehouses were frequented by people of all social classes and ages, both men and women.
At the beginning of the last century, the United States became the leader of the global anti-drug movement. By this time, the country had become the largest market for opium and its derivatives outside Asia. On the one hand, the Chinese coolies, who actively migrated to the United States in the mid-19th century, contributed. On the other hand, the domestic sobriety movement, which reached a large scale by the end of the century, contributed.
By 1893, six states had already banned the production and sale of alcohol, prompting Americans to seek an inexpensive substitute for alcohol. As earlier in England, this led to a rapid rise in the popularity of opiates, especially opium smoking.
Smokehouses were frequented by people of all social classes and ages, both men and women.
In 1901, after the assassination of President William McKinley, the new head of state becomes Theodore Roosevelt, a staunch supporter of healthy lifestyles. He was also an advocate of expanding American influence throughout the world, especially in Latin America and East Asia (the «big stick policy»).
Roosevelt hoped to increase the influence of the USA including at the expense of the British Empire, the colonial policy of which by this time was firmly associated with opium. In 1906, the U.S. passed the «Pure Food and Drug Act», which required all medicines sold in the country to be labeled. And in 1909, with the support of Roosevelt, an international commission on opium was convened in Shanghai. At the same time its importation into the U.S. was banned.
Two years after the 1912 Hague Opium Conference, during which the participating countries - Germany, the United States, France, Great Britain, China, Russia, Japan, Italy, Persia, the Netherlands, Portugal and Siam - agreed to control the circulation of drugs (morphine, cocaine and their derivatives), the States developed and approved a document that has had a major impact on global drug policy in general and opium and its preparations in particular.
Roosevelt hoped to increase the influence of the USA including at the expense of the British Empire, the colonial policy of which by this time was firmly associated with opium. In 1906, the U.S. passed the «Pure Food and Drug Act», which required all medicines sold in the country to be labeled. And in 1909, with the support of Roosevelt, an international commission on opium was convened in Shanghai. At the same time its importation into the U.S. was banned.
Two years after the 1912 Hague Opium Conference, during which the participating countries - Germany, the United States, France, Great Britain, China, Russia, Japan, Italy, Persia, the Netherlands, Portugal and Siam - agreed to control the circulation of drugs (morphine, cocaine and their derivatives), the States developed and approved a document that has had a major impact on global drug policy in general and opium and its preparations in particular.
The so-called Harrison Narcotics Tax Act (1914, named after its initiator, Congressman Francis Burton Harrison) started a complete ban on the sale of opiates. It did not do so directly, as they tried to counteract drugs, first in China and then in England.
It only made registration compulsory for «all persons producing, importing, manufacturing, mixing, marketing, supplying, selling, delivering or otherwise distributing opium or coca leaves and their salts, derivatives or preparations thereof, including for other purposes». This was necessary in order to impose a special tax on all sales of narcotic drugs.
Although the Harrison Act only formally regulated pharmaceutical taxation, in practice it drastically reduced the availability of opiates and cocaine for non-medical recreational purposes. This led, on the one hand, to the emergence of a gray and then black market for opium and heroin, the rise of the drug mafia, and, on the other, to an increase in crime among the drug-dependent poor.
It only made registration compulsory for «all persons producing, importing, manufacturing, mixing, marketing, supplying, selling, delivering or otherwise distributing opium or coca leaves and their salts, derivatives or preparations thereof, including for other purposes». This was necessary in order to impose a special tax on all sales of narcotic drugs.
Although the Harrison Act only formally regulated pharmaceutical taxation, in practice it drastically reduced the availability of opiates and cocaine for non-medical recreational purposes. This led, on the one hand, to the emergence of a gray and then black market for opium and heroin, the rise of the drug mafia, and, on the other, to an increase in crime among the drug-dependent poor.
The poor, who consumed the sharply higher-priced drugs, found themselves in a particularly difficult situation.
While in the past almost any ragamuffin who was addicted to laudanum or opium pills could afford to buy them at the drugstore, now many of them began to scour junkyards and garbage dumps, collecting and stealing various scrap metals and then selling them.
Thus, in English-speaking countries, a contemptuous nickname for drug addicts appeared - junkie (from junk «scrap metal», «junk»). Opiates became associated with marginalized people and criminals; in fact, the public consciousness began to dehumanize people dependent on them.
In 1919 a total ban on the sale of heroin without a medical indication was introduced in the United States. Five years later all use of heroin was outlawed in the United States
While in the past almost any ragamuffin who was addicted to laudanum or opium pills could afford to buy them at the drugstore, now many of them began to scour junkyards and garbage dumps, collecting and stealing various scrap metals and then selling them.
Thus, in English-speaking countries, a contemptuous nickname for drug addicts appeared - junkie (from junk «scrap metal», «junk»). Opiates became associated with marginalized people and criminals; in fact, the public consciousness began to dehumanize people dependent on them.
In 1919 a total ban on the sale of heroin without a medical indication was introduced in the United States. Five years later all use of heroin was outlawed in the United States
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Only China was then able to demonstrate comparable success in the campaign against opiates. True, the methods used there were quite different. As already mentioned, back in 1905, the country adopted a ten-year state anti-opium program. By this time, 27 percent of the adult population in the Celestial Empire was smoking dope. The country consumed 39,000 tons of opium a year, while the world production was 41,000 tons.
To solve the problem, the Chinese government introduced compulsory registration of all smokers, who had to obtain a special license to buy opium. Anti-drug NGOs were given police powers.
A wave of lawsuits against drug traffickers swept the country. Even harsher was the treatment of farmers who grew poppies. Their land was confiscated, their property destroyed, they were publicly humiliated, tortured and executed.
These measures had consequences: by 1915, direct imports of Bengal opium into China (but not into Hong Kong) were stopped, and most provinces were declared free of the drug's production. But the effect was temporary: the active campaign against the potion came at a time of domestic turmoil - the fall of the Qing Empire and the civil war.
The imperial generals, republicans and later communists who took part in it were not shy about financing their struggle at the expense of the drug trade.
This became clear as early as 1916, when turmoil erupted after the death of the self-proclaimed emperor, General Yuan Shikai. Against the backdrop of worsening turmoil, there was a new surge in opium consumption.
Although according to the Hague Convention its conditions were to have been met by 1915, by that time only the United States, China and the Netherlands, as well as Norway and Honduras, had done so.
To solve the problem, the Chinese government introduced compulsory registration of all smokers, who had to obtain a special license to buy opium. Anti-drug NGOs were given police powers.
A wave of lawsuits against drug traffickers swept the country. Even harsher was the treatment of farmers who grew poppies. Their land was confiscated, their property destroyed, they were publicly humiliated, tortured and executed.
These measures had consequences: by 1915, direct imports of Bengal opium into China (but not into Hong Kong) were stopped, and most provinces were declared free of the drug's production. But the effect was temporary: the active campaign against the potion came at a time of domestic turmoil - the fall of the Qing Empire and the civil war.
The imperial generals, republicans and later communists who took part in it were not shy about financing their struggle at the expense of the drug trade.
This became clear as early as 1916, when turmoil erupted after the death of the self-proclaimed emperor, General Yuan Shikai. Against the backdrop of worsening turmoil, there was a new surge in opium consumption.
Although according to the Hague Convention its conditions were to have been met by 1915, by that time only the United States, China and the Netherlands, as well as Norway and Honduras, had done so.
The Opium of War and Revolution
The other parties to the convention were not concerned with counter-narcotics at the time. On July 28, 1914, World War I began. And opiates took a very active part in it. In addition to morphine, which was still widely used in field surgery and remained a popular relaxant among soldiers, heroin was also used during the war for the same purposes. Cocaine, on the other hand, was used extensively on the front lines to boost morale and combat skills.
And on such a scale that in May 1916 a strict ban on the «white fairy» was imposed on British troops. The Kaiser's army had no such restrictions. Tens of thousands of soldiers and officers continued to systematically use cocaine even after the war.
For example, Hermann Goering, a future Nazi high priest, who was one of the best fighter pilots of the Reich during WWI. Like many of his comrades-in-arms, he took off for combat missions after being thoroughly powdered with white powder. After the war Göring switched from cocaine to morphine, to which he was addicted because of his wound during the «Beer Putsch» in 1923.
The other parties to the convention were not concerned with counter-narcotics at the time. On July 28, 1914, World War I began. And opiates took a very active part in it. In addition to morphine, which was still widely used in field surgery and remained a popular relaxant among soldiers, heroin was also used during the war for the same purposes. Cocaine, on the other hand, was used extensively on the front lines to boost morale and combat skills.
And on such a scale that in May 1916 a strict ban on the «white fairy» was imposed on British troops. The Kaiser's army had no such restrictions. Tens of thousands of soldiers and officers continued to systematically use cocaine even after the war.
For example, Hermann Goering, a future Nazi high priest, who was one of the best fighter pilots of the Reich during WWI. Like many of his comrades-in-arms, he took off for combat missions after being thoroughly powdered with white powder. After the war Göring switched from cocaine to morphine, to which he was addicted because of his wound during the «Beer Putsch» in 1923.
Officials on the ground were at a stalemate - should they allow the crops or outlaw them?
The Chinese government opposed poppy cultivation in Russia. Petrograd bureaucrats got out of the situation in a simple way: they shifted the responsibility to their colleagues in the Far East. The latter, in turn, resorted to a tactic proven during the Yekhaetuan rebellion and began forcibly expelling the Chinese from the country. The poppy crops were destroyed. Because of all the fecklessness of the tsarist «efficient managers», the production of the medicinal raw materials needed by the front was only established in 1916.
Immediately after the outbreak of war dry law was introduced in the empire, which could not but contribute to the spread of opiate addiction both in the army and across the country as a whole. However, the disappearance of German drugs from the free sale and the uncoordinated actions of the imperial chiefs helped to avoid the widespread spread of drugs in the early years of the war.
The epidemic did not begin until after the February Revolution, when, on the one hand, the authorities lost much of their ability to maintain order, and on the other, desertion from the fronts began in droves.
The Chinese government opposed poppy cultivation in Russia. Petrograd bureaucrats got out of the situation in a simple way: they shifted the responsibility to their colleagues in the Far East. The latter, in turn, resorted to a tactic proven during the Yekhaetuan rebellion and began forcibly expelling the Chinese from the country. The poppy crops were destroyed. Because of all the fecklessness of the tsarist «efficient managers», the production of the medicinal raw materials needed by the front was only established in 1916.
Immediately after the outbreak of war dry law was introduced in the empire, which could not but contribute to the spread of opiate addiction both in the army and across the country as a whole. However, the disappearance of German drugs from the free sale and the uncoordinated actions of the imperial chiefs helped to avoid the widespread spread of drugs in the early years of the war.
The epidemic did not begin until after the February Revolution, when, on the one hand, the authorities lost much of their ability to maintain order, and on the other, desertion from the fronts began in droves.
Read also our publications in the «World of Opiates» series
The world history of opium part I
The world history of opium part II
The world history of opium part III
About the largest legal supplier of opioids
King of fentanyl
Chemical weapons fentanyl part II
Chemical weapons fentanyl part I
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